How did SHI Group China start? In December 2008, my disgust with my previous company’s ethics reached fever pitch, and I resigned in the heart of a deep world recession when everyone who had a job just held on. Companies were shedding Western Staff at a lightening pace to get rid of expat packages and lower costs. Would my family of 5 starve because of my passion for ethics?

My wife and I led a community group in our spare time and decided I could bring value in my own for profit company in the business realm. We worked to develop a plan and got our business license on June 10, 2009 in the heart of the recession. We hired 3 people, and we were on our way.

I had never sold anything in my life, but I knew I had something of value to offer. With so much experience, I had been developing, leading, and fixing organizations through people centered solutions since acting as an Army officer right out of college. I was doing the same thing in China by 1997 after leaving the US Army. Furthermore, I never had that much focus on the technology around me. My focus always was on getting the right people and getting them in the right place on the bus and getting them happy and productive in their work.

SHI Group China Started With Something Different to Offer

Fortunately, a handful of people, who had needs and knew what I had done to revolutionize companies, called with needs. Our initial focus was broad around the area of organizational development. During the first few months as our cash flow dwindled, a friend got me a phone call with an International Sales Director. He told me how he had a Shanghai Office manager in Shanghai with a small team. The Sales Director said they had sales, but somehow always could not make any profit. He asked me if they needed team training. I told him he did not need team training. He needed a new Sales Manager as that one was stealing from him. I told him we would guarantee a person of talent who was also thoroughly trustable. I knew I could solve his problem.

There were some rough spots in how we made our contract and how found the candidates. Further, we needed to refine when and how we background checked. However, we found them a trustworthy and talented sales leader, and they were thrilled with our work. Along with some other bits and pieces, we survived the first year and had a much better product offering. We also started to narrow our focus around my core reproducible insights. See SHI Group – A Recruitment Agency China.

SHI Group Got More Mature

We did not initially use the term Trustworthy Talent®. We talked about character recruiting and the value of ethical candidates of ability.

One day I wrote to a customer that “SHI Group recruits Trustworthy Talent® for Western Companies active in China.” We had better ways to explain our very special niche in the recruiting market in China.

So we may still talk about ethics and character, but needed a lot more ways to explain ourselves.

Of course, by that time we could speak more succinctly, we also had a more refined system as a team as well which gave us the strength to be happy as a team to reach 10 years with confidence to reach 10 more.

Thanks to all our customers who from the start have trusted us to be insightful and transparent like no other recruiter in China.